Motorsport: Whincup out to win 'tougher' Bathurst

Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup believes this year's Great Race will be a lot harder than previous years. Photo / Getty Images

BATHURST - Reigning V8 Supercar driver's champion Jamie Whincup feels this year's Bathurst 1000 will be much harder to win than in the past.

The new rule preventing regular drivers from pairing up for Sunday's 1000km endurance race will, Whincup feels, increase the number of cars capable of winning at Mount Panorama.

"I think it's going to be harder, yeah," Whincup said.

"There's going to be more cars on the lead lap and I think to win the race is now tougher.

"You don't have just Garth Tander or just Will Davison, you've got both cars that'll be competitive."

But the three-time Bathurst champion, who won the Great Race in 2006, '07 and '08 with TeamVodafone teammate Craig Lowndes, is a supporter of the rule and he's excited about sharing the driver's reins with new partner Steve Owen.

"I think it's a good thing," he said.

"I enjoyed driving with Craig, that was a fantastic era but times have changed and now I've got Stevie Owen."

And while Whincup goes into Sunday's race trailing Ford's James Courtney by 179 points in his championship defence, he's adamant conserving his Commodore for a high finish and a chance to close the gap on Courtney is not his goal - he wants another Bathurst crown.

"It's the same as it was last year, we're here to win the race, but for me I still think the championship's the biggest prize in Australian motorsport," he said.

"In saying that, this is Bathurst week and I'm not even thinking about the championship to be honest.

"My whole mentality is trying to do the best I can this weekend and I think we're in for a really strong show. We've got a quick car, if Steve can do half the job he did at Phillip Island we've got a fantastic teammate and we just need to put in the best performance on the day."

- AAP